Hand operated tube flaring tool



June 23, 1959 I J -H STANLEY 2,891,598

HAND OPERATED TUBE FLARING- TOOL Filed may 8, 1957 7 I J H 7 J? 3INVENTOR. 5? 3 g J9 JEJUL JiarzZey 74 I is m'fmizlm fiza United StatesPatent OBERATED wTUBEFLARIN G TOOL JohnI-I. Stanley, Euclid, Ohio,assignor toParker-Hann Corporatiom'Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of"Application MayS, 1957, Serial No. 657,933

Claims. (Cl. 153-79) The invention relates generally to tube flaring andprimarily seeks to provide a simple and inexpensively formed tool-whichcan be hand held and manipulated in the formation of the desired tubeflares.

;It is a-common practice to flare the ends of tubes to be assernbledinfittings wherein the'tube is secured between threadably connected bodyand nut elements having opposing maleand female portions engaginginternally and externally of the tube flares. Hand tools for flaringsuch tu-bes havebeen known heretofore and have included flaring dieelements with bores therein in which to receive the tubes and flaredseats in the bores and against which the tube ends are flared. In suchtools there are included hardened reciprocable elementshaving conicalend portions. disposed to be driven into the ends of the tubes to flarethem against the die seats. These devices functioned satisfactorily inthe flaring of the tubes but were somewhat objectionable because theyrequired special spring ,detents or other devices for holding theflaring elements -in retractedv positions, and when repeated uses andwear ,ed in the slideway and having a tube receiving bore and a flaringseat disposed in alignment with the tapered bore, and a taperedflaringelement reciprocable in the tapered .bore sothat it can be projectedagainst a tube end in the die bore to flare said tube end against theflaring seat and which when retracted from its flaring positionisengageable in the tapered bore to be frictionally held there in insaid retracted position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hand tool of thecharacter stated wherein the body includes a bottom opening aligned withthe tapered bore and of a size at least as great as the largest diameterof'the ta- '-pered bore and large enough to permit mounting and'removalof the tube to be flared or which has been flared, and wherein theflaring element is devoid of any lateral projection which would preventpassage thereof completely through the tapered bore toward and throughthe aligned bottom opening, thereby to permit easy mounting and removalof the element when the die has been removed from the body. v

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the improved tool.

Figure 3.

Patented June 23, 1959 ice Figure 2 is'a side elevation. Figure 3 is avertical cross section'taken through one of the tube receiving bores ofthe die placed at the flaringposition, the flaring element being shownas frictionally held at the retracted position.

In the example of embodiment of the inventionherein disclosed, the diemembergenerally designated 5 comprises a carrier or connecting body 6andtwo half-die members 7 and 8 hinge mountedat 9 on said-body. At theirfree ends the die members are provided with aligning pin andsocketmeanslO, and in their opposing faces saiddiemembers are providedwith mating and selective tube receiving bores 11, each-said boremerging upwardly into a flared seat 12 against which the tube ends areflared.

The die member-is received in a slideway :13 formed in the body .14 andis slidable in said slideway toselectivelypresent-thetube-receiving-bores in operative position.Thebody 14 is provided with a threaded cross bore 15 in which is mounteda securing screw 16,having a cone-end 17 which isengageablein a selectedboreregistering :seat 18. It is to be understood that one of the screwend receiving or bore registering seats 18 is provided at the positionof each of the tube receiving bores 11. The screw 16 maybe manipulatedthrough the mediumof the handle extension "19 in order to securethc diemember with the selected tube receiving bore 11 in operative position,asshown in Figures 1,2 and 3.

The body 14 is provided with an upwardly tapered bore 20 openingdownwardly into the slideway 13 in the mannerclearly illustratediinFigure 3 for accurately registering with the selected tube receivingbore presentedand securedinioperative position as shown in said Thetapered bore 20 overlies and registers with a bottom opening 21 openinginto the slideway 13 through the bottom of the body 14, and .it will .beobserved that the opening 21 has .a size at least as great as thelargest'or bottom extremity diameter of the tapered .bore 20 and isilargeenough to permit mounting and removal of the tube to.be flared orwhich has been flared. A tapered flaring element 22 is mounted in thetapered bore 26 and is equipped at its lower end :With a flaring cone23. At its upper end, the flaring element 22 is equipped with ahead-enlargement .24 which is preferably knurled at 25 atzits externalsurface. It will be observed thatthe. externaldiameter of theenlargement 24 on the tapered flaring element 22is small enough to passreadily through the smallest or upper limit diameter of the taperedbore'20.

In the use of the flaring tool thetscrew "16 is threaded outwardly toclearthe-slideway .13 andthe die member 35 is adjustedin ;said slideway13 to present in operative inserted in the tube receiving bore with its'upper end extremity projected a proper dis tance into .the: flared seat12 for being engaged by the flaringjco ne 2 3 of the flaring element 22,the die member 5 first having been firmly secured in the selectedposition by manipulation of the handle 19 to project the screw end 17 insecuring contact in the receiving seat 18. By then projecting theflaring element against the end of the tube by hammer blows in the wellknown manner, the tube end can be accurately flared against the seat 12.After the flaring operation, the flaring element 22 can be retracted inthe manner illustrated in Figure 3 and will be retained in operativeposition by frictional contact in the receiving bore 20 in the mannerclearly illustrated.

Whenever it becomes necessary to renew the flaring element 22 by reasonof wearing of the conical end portion 23 thereof, it is a simple matterto retract the screw aeageos 16 and remove the die member from the body14, and then to allow the flaring element 22 to merely fall out throughthe registering bottom opening 21. A resurfaced or a new taperingelement 22 can be readily inserted through said bottom opening 21 andinto the tapered receiving bore 2% to be retained therein by retainingfriction in the manner illustrated in Figure 3 whenever it is drawnupwardly into the position illus trated.

It is preferred that the body 14 be provided with a sighting clearanceor clearances 26 in order to enable observation of the progress of theflaring operation.

The flaring tool disclosed herein is very simple in construction andprovides many advantages in manufacture and use because of itssimplicity. The necessity of providing spring detents or other retainingdevices is eliminated by reason of the provision of the simple taper fitof the flaring element 22 in the receiving bore 20 in the body 14, saidflaring element being retained in its retracted position, as indicatedin Figure 3, by retaining friction alone. The flaring element can beremoved and replaced without the necessity of grinding or cuttingprojections therefrom which would prevent removal of the element fromits mounting. As before stated, the tapering element 22 can be removedby merely tapping the same to release it from its frictional contact inthe receiving bore 20, and assuming that the die member 5 has beenremoved from the slideway 13, said flaring element will fall out throughthe bottom opening 21, the top portion 24 of the element beingdimensioned to pass readily through the bore 20 and the bottom opening21 being sized to permit free passage of the flaring elementtherethrough.

The specific form of the die member 5 including the swingably mountedhalves 7 and 8 and the form of the body 14, other than the particularshape of its bore 20, are not claimed herein, these structures beingdisclosed in U.S. Letters Patent 2,089,l33 issued to AL. Parker onAugust 3, 1937.

While one form of the invention has been shown for purposes ofillustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a flaring tool of the character described, a body having a tubeflaring die receiving slideway in its lower portion and a bore openinginto the slideway in its upper portion, a tube flaring die mounted inthe slideway and having a tube receiving bore and a flaring seatdisposed in alignment with the bore of the body, a flaring elementreciprocable in the bore of the body and having a coniform flaring endprojectable against a tube end in the die bore to flare said tube endagainst the flaring seat, said body having a bottom opening therein andsaid flaring element being of such size relative to said body openingthat it can be introduced into and removed from the bore of the bodythrough said bottom opening when the flaring die has been removed fromits bore aligning position in the slideway.

2. A flaring tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the bore in the body istapered in a direction away from said slideway, and said flaring elementhaving a tapered shank portion dimensioned to fit said tapered bore withretaining friction Whenever the flaring element is fully retracted insaid tapered bore.

3. In a flaring tool of the character described, a body having a tubeflaring die receiving slideway and a tapered bore opening into theslideway and tapering in a direction away from said slideway, a tubeflaring die mounted in the slideway and having a tube receiving bore anda flaring seat disposed in alignment with the tapered bore, and atapered flaring element reciprocable in the tapered bore so that it canbe projected against a tube end in the die bore to flare said tube endagainst the flaring seat and which when retracted from its flaringposition is engageabie in the tapered bore, said tapered bore and saidtapered flaring element having a complementary taper, so dimensionedthat said element will so engage in said here as to be frictionally heldtherein in said retracted position; said flaring element being devoid oflateral projections not readily passable through the tapered bore as theflaring element is moved longitudinally in the bore in a direction forremoving the flaring element from the tapered bore, and said body havinga bottom opening therein through which the flaring element can beintroduced into or removed from the tapered bore when the flaring diehas been displaced from its bore aligning position in the slideway.

4. A flaring tool as defined in claim 3 wherein the flaring elementincludes a knurled finger gripping enlargement at the end thereof remotefrom the coniform flaring end and which has a diameter smaller than thesmall end of the tapered bore so as to be readily passable therethrough.

5. in a flaring tool of the character described, a body having a tubeflaring die receiving slideway and a flaring element receiving boreopening into the slideway, :1 tube flaring die mounted in the slidewayand having a tube receiving bore and a flaring seat disposed inalignment with the flaring element receiving bore, and a flaring eiementreciprocable in said flaring element receiving bore and having aconiform flaring end projectable against a tube end in the die bore toflare said tube end against the flaring seat, said flaring elementreceiving bore being tapered in a direction away from said slideway andsaid flaring element having a shank portion having a taper dimensionedto fit said tapered bore with retaining friction whenever the flaringelement is fully retracted in said tapered bore, said body having abottom opening therein through which the flaring element can beintroduced into or removed from the tapered bore when the flaring diehas been displaced from its bore aligning position in the slideway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS KaasSept. 20, 1949

